Hydraulic feed for dri lli ng - mach i n es



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

M. 0'. BULLOCK. HYDRAULIC FEED FOR DRILLING MAGHINES.

Patented Nov. 3, 1891.

(No Model.)

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. 0. BULLOCK.

I HYDRAULIC FEED FOR DRILLING MACHINES.

No. 462,393. Patented Nov. 3, 1891.

Wm 9% 73am $2.1m. 5 w M f M dag 1r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILAN C. BULLOCK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HYDRAULIC FEED FOR DRILLING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,393, dated November3,1891.

Application filed April 14, 1891- fierial No. 388.909. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I MILAN O. BULLOCK, of Chicago, in the county of (lookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and-useful Improvementsin Hydraulic Feed for D rilling-Machines; .and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel feed mechanism for revolving ordiamond drills used in rock or earth boring, and more especially toimprovements in that class of feed devices known as hydraulic feed, orthat in which the drill is fed or carried forward by the pressure ofwater or other fluid.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is anelevation of an apparatus showing one form of my invention, theaccumulator being shown in vertical sec tion. Fig. 2 is a sectional viewof an accumulator adapted for operation by water-pressure. Fig. 3 is asectional view of an accumulat-or adapted for operation by a weight inone direction and force-pump in the other. Fig. 4c is a sectional viewof an accumulator adapted for actuation by a weight in one direction anda hoisting apparatus in the other direction.

As shown in the drawings, A represents the frame, and A the base, of acombined drilling-machine and hoisting-engine of a kind commonly used inwell-boring and prospecting.

A A indicate the steam-cylinders of the engine, and a .the maincrankshaft, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) which is provided with abevel gear-wheel ct, through which motion is communicated from the shaftto the drilling mechanism.

Bis atubular driving-spindle, which is provided at its lower end with achuck b, which serves to attach to the same the drill-rod B, which isfed downwardly through said spindle. Said spindle B is supported belowthe gear-wheel a in a bearing a upon the machine frame, and rotarymotion is in1- parted thereto from the said gear-wheel by means of abevel-gear c, which intermeshes with the wheel a and is attached to asleeve 0, through which the spindle B passes, and which is provided witha spline or feather engaging a longitudinal groove 1) in the shaft. Thesleeve 0 is mounted in a stationary hearing 0, upon a cross-pie e C,suitably sustained upon the machine-frame, in the illstance illustratedby means of the feed-cylinders of the machine.

D l) are the feed-cylinders, which are located at opposite sides of thespindle B and parallel therewith. Said cylinders may be attached to orsupported on the frame A in any suitable manner. As herein illustrated,they are attached at the lower ends to the upper part of the verticalframestandard of the machine.

D D are piston-rods, which pass through the lower ends of thecylindersand are attached to pistons I) within the cylinders in the usual manner.The said pistons are attached at their lower ends to a cross-head Dwhich is connected at its central part with the lower end of therevolving spindle B by a thrustbearing D", arranged to transmit downwardpressure from the cross-head to said spindle. Said thrust-bearing may beof any approved construction, but is preferably a roller-bearin g, asindicated in dotted lines in the drawings. The cross-head D is shown asprovided with acentral hub 11 through which the spindle 15 passes, saidspindle being secured rigidly to the hub, so that the spindle is movedor carried with the hub in both its upward and downward movements.

At any suitable point adjacent to or upon the frame of the drillingapparatus is located an accumulator, which may be of any approvedconstruction, the form shown being chosen merely for the purpose ofillustration. In this construction E represents the hydraulic orpressure cylinder of the accumulator, which is connected at its oppositeends with the opposite ends of the feed-cylinders D by means of pipes FF, having branches ff leading to the ends of said pressure-cylinders.

G is a piston within the cylinder E, and G is a piston-rod attachedthereto and extending through a suitable gland g in one end of thecylinder.

I-I indicates a steam-cylinder mounted on and arranged in line with thecylinderE and provided with a gland h, through which the piston-rod Gpasses, said piston-rod being provided with a piston H to fit the same.

I indicatesa four-way valve, with which are connected the steam-supplypipe I, the exhaust-pipe 1 a pipe 1', leading to the top of the cylinderH, and apipe 2", leading to the bottom of the said cylinder. This valveis of Well-known construction and serves not only to either turn on orshut off the flow of steam, but also in the former case to connecteither one of the pipes t' and t" with the supply-pipe I and at the sametime connect the other one of said pipes with the exhaust. Any otherapproved valve mechanism may be used for controlling the steam-supply ofthe cylinder H; The supply-pipe I will be preferably connected with thesame source that supplies the hoisting-engine. At opposite ends of thefeed-cylinders and in communication with the same are locatedpressuregages P P, said pressure-gages being for convenience attached tothe pipes ff at points adjacent to the cylinders. I

Q represents a safety-valve located upon the pipe F, which latter isprovided with a by-pass q, having a valve Q to control the same. Thesepartsthe safety-valves and pressure-gagesoperate substantially as setforth in an applicationfiled by me July 12, 1889, Serial No. 317,321,and therefore need no extended description here, it being only necessaryto note that the opening of the bypass valve during the return orupward7 stroke of the pistons in the feed-cylinders obbe admitted to the upperend of the cylinder H, and willforce the piston H therein downward, thepiston G being of course carried downward to a like extent andtransmitting its motion through the water or other liquid to the pistonsD of the feed-cylinders, which latter will, through the describedconnecting mechanism, advance the drill-rod to its work. Steam admittedto the other end of the cylinder II will serve to impart a reversemotion pump being used to supply to the bits the water used tofacilitate their cutting operation and to remove upwardly through thehole" the dbris made by the bit. This dual use of to the several partsmentioned to raise the, drill-rod, the direction and .rate of feed beingcontrolled by the valve I.

IIeretofore when hydraulic feed mechanism has been employed to feeddrills of this classa pump has been employed, connected directly withthe feed-cylinders, the same the pump is frequently a greatdisadvantage, since it renders it impossible to regulate the supply ofwater for the one purpose independently of the supply for the other, sothat when employing a given pressureto the feedcylinders a quantity ofwater greater or less than the circumstances require is frequently beingfed to the bit. Moreover, the action of a pump is commonly a pulsatingor throbbing one, and the advance of the drill when fed forward by thedirect pressure from the pump is correspondingly irregular, a fact whichconstitutes a serious objection to the employment of a pump directlyconnected with the feedcylinders. These objections are all obviated bythe employment of an accumulator for the purpose ofsupplying pressure tothe feed-cylinders, as the pressure thus obtained is an evennon-pulsating one and is entirely independent of the water-supply'forthe bit, so that the required pressure may be used to force the drillinto the rock and at the same time any desiredvariati'on in the supplyof water to the bit maybe made without affecting this pressure.Moreover, it will be noticed that the pressure-transmitting liquidcirculates back and forth between the pressure-cylinder andfeed-cylinders, the exhaust-liquid of one stroke becoming thesupply-liquid of the next, so that there is no loss of the liquid,except the slight one due to leakage. This enables me to use brine, oil,glycerine, or other nonfreezing liquid, thereby preventing the apparatusfrom being affected by a low temperature. cable to use thesecomparatively expensive liquids in an apparatus of the ordinary typewheretheexhaust-liquid is discharged and wasted after each stroke.

7 As heretofore stated, I have shown a steamactuated accumulator solelyfor the purpose of illustration, and myinvention is not limited to theemployment of this particular form of accumulator, inasmuch. as thereare many other well-known forms of accun1ulators which may be employedwith the same result and without departure from the principle of myinvention. As, for instance, water-pressure may be applied to actuatethe accumulator in a direction to feed forward the drill, while thesteam-pump may be used to retract the same, or a weight may be used toactuate the accumulator in feeding forward the drill, and the weight maybe lifted and the drill retracted either by a steampump applied to forcewater into a cylinder having a piston connected with the weight or bythe direct action of the hoisting mechanism on the weight.

In Fig. 2, for example, I have shown an accumulator-cylinder E and awater-cylinder J, arranged 1n the same manner as the cylinderhereinbefore described. K is a water-tank connected with the top of thecylinder J by a pipe 70, which is provided with a valve 7t. Anexhaust-pipe j is connected with the top of said cylinder J, and to thebottom of the It would manifestly be impracti ITO.

' rod.

same is connected a pipe J, leading from a force-pump, and also anexhaust-pipe j. Within the cylinder E is a piston G, connected by apiston-rod G with a piston L in the cylinder J. In the operation of thisform of accumulator water under pressure from the tank K is allowed toenter the cylinder J above the piston therein and acts with a steady anduniform pressure to actuate the piston G, and thereby force or feedforward the drill. Then the drill has reached the lower limit of itsstroke, the valve K is operated to cut off the water-supply, the valvein the exhaustpipe 7t is opened, and water then forced through thesupply-pipe J from a steamp1 mp to lift the piston L and retract thedrill- It.is of course understood that by the use of the steam-pump thedrill-rod may be lifted much more rapidly or quickly than it is movedwhen advanced.

As shown in Fig. 3, the cylinder E and the piston therein are arrangedin the same manner as before described. H is a hydraulic cylinder openat its top and containinga piston N, said cylinder being provided with awater-supply pipe M leading from a steampump and with an exhaust-pipe771. O is a tank or receptacle for containing water, stones, or othermaterial and acting as a Weight to operate the accumulator for advancingthe drill-rod. The said tank or receptacle 0 is shown as connected withthe piston Nby the rod 0, and as being held orguided in its verticalmovement by guides 0 0 In this construction steady or uniform pressureisgiven by the weight when the drill-rod is fed forward, and the latteris retracted by means of pressure of water pumped into the lower part ofthe cylinder M through the supply-pipe M.

In Fig. 4 is shown an accumulator-cylinder like that hereinbeforedescribed, andhaving a piston G and piston-rod G. To the top of saidpiston-rod is attached a receptacle P for containing water or stone toform an actuating-weight, and said receptacle is provided at its topwith a hook 1), by which the hoistinggear of the drilling apparatus maybe engaged therewith to lift the weight and the piston G, and therebyaccomplish the withdrawal of the drill-rod from the hole. The rod G isshown as provided with the cross-head q, working on guides Q Q; butthese details form no part of the present invention.

What I claim is 1. The combination, with a rotary drill and a motor foractuating the same, of a feed mechanism comprising a feed-cylinder, andan accumulator provided with a pressure-cylinder and piston, andconnected from opposite sides of said piston with the ends of the saidfeed cylinder, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a rotary drill and a motor for actuating thesame, of afeed m echanism comprising a feed-cylinder having its pistonconnected with the drill-rod to feed the same, and an accumulatorprovided with a pressure-cylinder and a piston and havingits endsconnected with the opposite ends of the feed-cylinder, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, with a rotary drill and a motor for actuating thesame, of afeed mechanism comprising a feed-cylinder, and an accumulatorhaving a pressure-cylinder connected with said feed-cylinder andactuating a piston, and means for imparting to said piston an evennon-pulsating advancing movement, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a rotary drill and amotor for actuating thesame, of a feed mechanism comprising a feed-cylinder, and an accumulatorconsisting of a pressure-cylinder connected with said feed-cylinder andprovided with apiston,andasteam-cylinderconnected with said piston tooperate the same, substantially as described.

5. The combination,witharotary drill and a motor for actuating the same,of a feed mechanism comprising a feed-cylinder, and an accumulatorcomposed of a pressure-cylinder connected with the feed-cylinder, asteamcylinder in line with the pressure-cylinder, and a piston-rodcommon to both of said cylinders and provided with a piston in eachcylinder, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aiiix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

MILAN C. BULLOCK.

Witnesses:

C. CLARENCE PooLE, GEORGE W. HIGGINS, J r.

